In 1983, 25-year-old Euzhan Palcy became the first black woman to direct a film produced by a major Hollywood studio. Palcy was born in the French colony of Martinique on January 13th, 1958. Her interest in films began when she was ten as she felt an attraction towards them. At the time, … Read MoreEuzhan Palcy (1958- )
Born in 1980 in apartheid-dominated Johannesburg, South Africa, Sizwe Lawrence Ndlovu was a member of a family of seven. His interest in athletics began when he was exposed to the typical South African sports, cricket, European football, and rugby. Once he became older, he discovered rowing, which would become his major sport. Ndlovu … Read MoreSizwe Lawrence Ndlovu (1980- )
Saartjie (Sara) Baartman was one of the first black women known to be subjugated to human sexual trafficking. She was derisively named the “Hottentot Venus” by Europeans as her body would be publicly examined and exposed inhumanly throughout the duration of her young life. Moreover. her experience … Read More(Sara) Saartjie Baartman (1789-1815)
Jacob Zuma is the 4th president of post-apartheid South Africa and a member of the African National Congress (ANC). He held the presidency for nine years from 2009 to 2018 until he was ousted under a shroud of scandals and corruption. Before his presidency, Zuma worked with other African nationalists … Read MoreJacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma (1942– )
Cyril Ramaphosa is South African businessman and politician who is also the fifth president of South Africa and a member of the African National Congress (ANC), beginning his term on February 15, 2018. Ramaphosa is ranked the 21st wealthiest African in the world with an estimated value of … Read MoreCyril Ramaphosa (1952- )
Charlotte Maxeke (maiden name Manye) was a South African woman who broke societal barriers throughout her life. She was born in South Africa on April 7, 1874 and in the early 1880s attended secondary school at Edwards Memorial School. Upon her graduation, with a missionary education in 1885, Manye … Read MoreCharlotte Maxeke (Manye) (1874-1939)
The Mozambican Civil War was a 15-year conflict that occurred between May 30, 1977 and October 4, 1992 in the southern African country of Mozambique. Although ostensibly an internal civil war, the conflict was in fact a proxy war between the Soviet Union which backed the Mozambican government and the … Read MoreThe Mozambican Civil War (1977-1992)
The Third Congo Civil War—also known as Africa’s World War—was a five-year conflict that occurred primarily in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Nine African countries eventually became involved in the war other than the DRC: Angola, Chad, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Sudan, Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi. The Third Congo Civil War became the deadliest conflict since World … Read MoreThird Congo Civil War (1998-2003)
Ernest Cole was the first black photojournalist in South Africa. In the 1960s he became one of the first photojournalists to report on the lives of black people in that nation under apartheid, exposing the mistreatment and racism from which they (and he) suffered, as well as exploring the intimacy … Read MoreErnest Cole (1941-1990)
If you have flown on a commercial airliner in recent years, chances are you benefited from the engineering and computer science expertise of Walt Braithwaite. During his almost four decades at The Boeing Company (Boeing), Braithwaite helped transform the field of aerospace design from a manual time-consuming process to … Read MoreWalt Braithwaite (1945- )
